10/28 - 10/30 - Fun Times, Not too Scary but still Halloween...

I got back home and got down to the usual routine. Dinner was ordered, cleanup started and finished and we watched a little of 20/20 before preparing to head into NYC. Russ was staying in for the eve so I wished him well as he did the same and I walked over to the car service to get a ride into the city. Halloween weekend had finally arrived and I was ready to see how the people were ready to party on this holiday weekend when we had 4 nights of party to look forward to. The driver took me into the city via the Manhattan bridge then up Bowery, across Houston street, up Lafayette and then down 14th Street over to 8th Ave and up to the usual 18th street. The ride was a little longer and unexpected but with no major traffic snarls (until the inevitable 14th street at 7th and 8th) I was still into the city before too late. I arrived at Gym and ordered my first drink at the front bar from barman Brett. We hung out with David and a few other friendly guys from the front bar before David stepped away and I gave Brett a gift CD (Edge of the Dance Floor). David had already gotten a gift of "Move Summ More" and so he was placated as well. Later on after we bid goodnight to sir Brett I then went to the back and hung out with DJ Smoky for a bit. We watched to the boys play pool, talked over some music and I headed back to the front to pick up my jacket (a little cooler than last week but still not truly cold) I said goodnight to everyone and then headed over to 6th. A bottle of water and a short wait later I was inside of the club and headed downstairs. I decided to hit up the b'room first and take care of some fluid retention before picking up a drink and waiting on the coat check line to check my coat. The crowd was in place and I went up to the stage to dance a bit looking out of the crowd at Splash and watching DJ Billy Carroll work the boys up and keep them dancing. I was a little put off by the people who would come up and sit behind me on the stage on the benches and just take up stage space with their lazy behinds cause they couldn't find a bar stool or table in the back somewhere. I took a short break outside to cool off and pick up a bottle of water and then it was back inside. I picked up my second drink of Smirnoff Ice and Grenadine and I was back on the dancefloor and hanging out in front of the stage before waiting to see how the dancing could be taken to the next level. The DJ then went on to play that peak hour mash up of "Let the Music Use You Up" and I had my hands lit and was dancing on the crowded stage once again. I also had one dizzy fan come up and want to inspect the lights. (Answer was: No). I decided to leave the place on a high note and headed downstairs to the coatcheck and it was out into the night to head home for myself. I neglected to pick up any of the town magazines but I was still happy and ready to rest up for tomorrow. The taxi was picked up right out front and I was able to give him the directs back to BK and get there without too much trouble.

Saturday I awoke and had a shake for breakfast. Russ was out visiting family and I knew that I wanted to get to the gym before too long into the afternoon. By 1am I was out of the house and walking up the street and heading over to the gym. I arrived, and worked out on the upright bike first as all of the recumbent bikes were in use. After that it was on to the chest workout, the triceps, back and biceps. The machines were condensed from the usual full set I use at the downtown gym, mostly because I am more impatient on the weekend and I always end up waiting more in Bklyn, as today I waited for 2 different machines. I was going to forego the aerobic workout but when I settled on the Cybex machine I ended up totally wearing out the legs so that I cut the workout short and picked up my locker wares and heading back up 5th Ave. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching DVR programming before Russ called and said he would pick up some KFC on the way back. Once the food arrived I dug into the chicken but passed on the mashed potatoes. Once the meal was over it was more resting up and making sure I was all set for later. I cleaned up and made sure the black coach's shirt, the SWAT Tee shirt, the Black EMT pants and the SWAT baseball cap were all assembled and ready to go after a quick clean up. A shower and shave and we were ready to head out into the night.

We listened to the new CD heading into the city as we made very good time. We crossed over on the Manhattan Bridge and used Canal St to get to the west side. We turned up 10th Ave and headed up the street looking for a spot and found one between 22nd and 23rd streets. After checking all of the signs we locked up and headed back down the street noting the various bananas, witches and even a mushroom from Mario Bros. we made our way to 18th street and the line in front. I waited with Russ who did not have his ticket already as I did but the wait was not too long and we were inside and coat checked and ready to hang almost right away. I picked up my first drink from barman Barker and noted that he was already in a tense mood to start. I asked him later what was going on and he told me that the Friday night party had gotten shut down before it had even started. The police had yellow taped the place before the party could even get underway and Barker had scheduled to work at Avalon for Saturday but then when the court order was overturned and the place was re-opened then they needed bartenders again so he was back at Roxy for a Halloween night. The DJ was Junior Vasquez and the crowd was already in place even at midnight. We were looking forward to daylight savings extending the night for an hour and the music was already on point as I got to take to my first speaker at 12:40 and dance just a little bit for the crowd before moving on and seeing who else was in attendance. I took a picture with another person dressed in SWAT gear and also took pics with Russ and Kevin. We also hung out with Reggie and Erica who was dressed as queen Cleopatra for the evening. Midway through the night we heard the announcement that there was a $1,000 dollar prize for the winner of the costume contest so the participants made their way to the back and then the finalists were called to the stage. I climbed up on a box at the back of the dancefloor to take digipix of the stage and the contestants. (I really have to settle on the multi exposure setting). And after DJ Junior even came out of the booth to choose the final winners we found that Cleopatra and the guy dressed as Hermes were the winners. Afterwards I felt bad for the guy that was dressed as the tall blue diva from the movie "The Fifth Element". All that blue body suit and face paint and the tubes from the back of the head and the got nathans. Anyway the night continued and we danced some more and even had another intermission for performer Simone Denny who sang "Blood from a Stone" and then wished the boys goodnight. As it got later and we discussed the various merits of the different party goers. From the high boys getting carried out by security to the obvious trailer boys showing b-crack at the bar but at least it was quality B.C. Russ suggested we get ready to leave around 5am (4am D.S.T) but I was up for one more dance and so was up on the speaker during the Thriller remix and then... It was OVAH. The lights came on and I had to move to the front and meet up with Russ but then we were caught in the crush. 2000 people had to get to the same coat check and so we split up. Russ headed out to the vehicle (he didn't drive any closer though) and I made my way through the crowd over the next 25 minutes and got to the coat check. Thank goodness we went to the same coat check and I controlled the rowdier elements and myself as the madness level crept higher. After finally retrieving my coat and heading down the stairs it was out into the night and a jog up the street to the car. We headed back to Bklyn and discussed various reasons of what happened and how we were happy to get out alive. I however also needed a little feel good food in my stomach so I demanded to be taken to Mickey Ds for some food. The 24 hr one over near Ft. Hamilton Pkwy and the Bklyn Bridge would do nicely. We arrived but of course 5:35 meant it was too late for burgers and they were now serving breakfast. I ordered a number 2 instead with orange juice and got set to enjoy my Bacon, egg and cheese Biscuit along with the hash brown I made sure was in the bag. Russ had his bacon and egg on a bagel and we headed back home to chow down. After discovering my missing hash brown I demanded its immediate return and of course it was returned so I could spread on the ketchup and dig into my repast. I then brushed the teeth, cleaned up and dived into bed. Thank goodness for melatonin and valerian to keep a person nice and asleep.

The next day I awoke early afternoon and we were still discussing the previous night. Of course the handy email from Mr Blair the next day explained that the Roxy had been closed down by the Police on Friday Night due to underage drinking. I thought the bartenders were better than that, at least the ones I go to are, but anyway thank goodness a judge overturned the ruling and we were able to still get our party on, on Saturday night. However the place was due to close at 4am but the management did not know until too late that this meant that not only were the doors closed at 4am but the lights were on and were kicked into the street too. This reminded me of the 2am cutoff in Boston and San Diego where they kick you out all at the same time no matter if you have to deal with coat check or not. The police are making one think of "Giuliani time" but anyway we should not all be punished for the crimes of those on other party nights. We got out mid afternoon to pick up lunch at Wendy's and then headed over to Pathmark to pick up the soda, juice, milk and dinner fixings. More football watching and then it was time to cook dinner and prepare some nice turkey wings, stuffing, macaroni and cheese and some buttered corn. The dinner of course came out great and we spent the rest of the eve watching TV on HBO as well as DVR programming. Next weekend we would finally see some new Fox Block shows as well. The weekend was still good, despite the dramatic ending to the Saturday but at least we still had fun and did what we were supposed to. Fun with friends, fun with the crowd and fun with just the little things. And then it continues...

Fri 21 - Sun 23 - Men, Music and Madonna...

The weekend finally rolled around and it was supposed to be rainy. I hurried home and prepared for dinner. However I was focusing on music and mixing and so I ate later than I meant to but still finished up with the haircut and cleanup before heading out to Manhattan via the car service at 11:05. Russ was staying in so I was flying solo for the night but I still had plenty of people to see and places to go. The dispatcher at Castle Car had a car for me within 5 minutes and the driver, though smelling of other drinks, was happily drinking his Goya Malta as we headed into the city. The ride was fast and I arrived in downtown on 8th Ave and 18th street with time to head into the deli and pick up some Tums (to stop my late dinner from tasting like my drink) and then headed on into Gym. Barman Brett was holding court in the front as usual and I had my usual Stoli Orange and Rockstar and talked to Brett about our previous weekend and the music and DJ we had heard. The consensus was that it definitely could have been better and we were both waiting to see who was going to be in attendance at Roxy the next night. The night was young and Brett bid a good evening as I headed to the back of the bar and hung out some with DJ Smoky and discussed the fall and the thankful change in the weather. Even with the proposed rainy forecast for the weekend it was nothing like the previous week of 8 straight days of rain. Anything else could be dealt with. I also hung out some with John of Softball and NJ as well as meeting his friend as they played a game of pool near the back of the bar. I also showed off my new camera and took some pics before finally bidding the guys goodnight and heading out to the street and making my way over to 6th Ave and 17th Street. A bottle of water before I headed in and started off my night inside of Splash. I headed downstairs and decided that instead of checking my jacket for the first time this season I would just wear windbreaker tucked into my pants like my shirt and it pretty much stayed out of the way just like I would expect my shirt to and I moved on to get my Smirnoff Ice and Grenadine and headed back upstairs, said hi to Michelé and headed up to the DJ booth to give the light guy in the DJ booth a pair of CDs. I told him he was always so nice to me when I talked to the DJs so I wanted to give him something too. I headed back downstairs and listened to the beats being thrown out by Alex Lauterstein. The music was good, though I had missed Mariah Carey on my way in and I ended up just enjoying the songs from the dancefloor and when the energy picked up some I found myself on the speakerbox in front of the screens dancing with both hands lit, watching the people pass to and fro from the front bar to the back and moving on the dance floor. However I heard the music change again and this time I had to go dance on the box in front of the stage so I could be seen by the DJ and light guy as the familiar strains of "Solid Textures" began to play so I walked through the crowd on the floor and then continued dancing on the new location box. The time was right and the mood was high enough that I decided to leave on a high note and early as well. I made my way out the street and waited for a taxi to show which it quickly did and then I was on my way back to BK. The rain had started and even though I had some difficulty closing the car door I was able to give sufficient directions to get the driver back to BK and relax in the back seat. I refocused and gave further directions just as we turned off of 4th Ave and I was able to give the rest of the directions and get dropped of at my front door by my taxi driver. Another successful Friday night, with plenty of time to go to sleep.

Plenty of time to go to sleep. Well somebody didn't get the memo as I was woken up at 9:20am by some loud noises (drilling going through the very support structure of the building). I got dressed and set out to investigate the source and location. I followed the noise downstairs and found the guy in the lobby happily drilling away and actually argumentative that he had a lot of holes to drill and only took Sundays off. I had been woken up by this noise multiple days this past week and was definitely looking forward to some nice rest on a Saturday morning. The defiant one in the lobby would not take any explanation besides calling the management office (on Saturday?) and making my case with them. I came upstairs considered my options but in the meantime the noise had stopped. I guess another tenant had convinced him of the error of his ways. But at this point I was up and awake and was now looking for reading material and watching television. Nap time would come later. Now was the time for delivery breakfast and watching Batman Begins on DVD with Russ. The movie was good, (much better than those last two Joel S. directed fluff pieces) and I looked forward to the continuation films they had planned. Around 1:30 it was time to head out to the gym and do a little workout at the neighborhood NYSC. The weather was a lot cooler than even the previous night and the fall air definitely appeared to be in full effect. The jacket was sufficient and I was happy to go ahead and pack the pants and wallet and the rest of the accouterments in the locker as I went ahead and worked it out. The rest of the work out went well and I was able to get through the whole thing and then head back home up 5th Ave. Russ had to pick up some fruit at the fruit stand as well as some soda for the house at the Met Market and then the rest of the afternoon was spent waiting and seeing what was on the DVR and HD. Dinner was delivery of Italian (chicken Ceasar Salad) around 7:30. Between cleaning up, mixing music and previewing the new mix on the living room stereo, it was all about preparation for going out later in the night. I had the outfit planned for over a week, the desert tan button-fly military cargo pants, and the still store tagged Ecko Orange shirt. For the hat I stayed with the old faithful, the Tommy Hilfiger capital "T" baseball cap. Freshly showered, shaved and all cleaned up it was time to await the departure. The Jimmy arrived at 10:25 and after the boys had their Ketel One and Cranberry drinks in hand the World Series game on TV was well in hand it was time to head out the door at 11:05.

We avoided several near misses as taxi's and regular civilians appeared to be having a hard time driving on the busy streets that were still wet from the afternoon, early eve showers. We were able to find a parking space right on 23rd street and 10th Ave right next to the now-closed gas station. We rested a bit to avoid appearing to early and the realized our folly after venturing down the street and seeing the predicament the front door to the Roxy had become. The far end of the street at West St. was closed off and the line extended to the end of the block. The line for people on the guest list went half-way up the block in the other direction. There were plenty of people in attendance so we knew that something special was definitely supposed to happen. It took us 25 minutes to get inside and then another 15 min to get up the stairs and to the cashiers. When we finally made it inside it was 12:50 and the place was far more crowded than we had seen it since Pride weekend. I was able to wait a sec for the bar to clear up and then said hello to Barman Barker and got our first round of drinks. Soon after that we headed to the back bar to see that there were no curtains around the dancefloor at all so there were clear sight lines in every part of the club. The place was packed with every speakerbox (except for the stage) packed with people dancing and trying to see what there was to see. We met up with Duane and Joseph and said hello to a few other passers by before I staked out a spot in the back of the Dance floor with Duane and Joseph and we danced some and took some digital pictures. We headed off the floor briefly to get something to drink but we decided to get back to the dancefloor before it got too late and plus DJ Peter Rauhofer was playing some cool new Madonna remixes from her new album. At the back bar I spotted DJ James Anderson and told him that he was missed on the Roxy roster as we had not heard him spin for a while. He thanked me very much and even typed his phone number into my cell phone so that I could call him to get on the guest list when he was spinning at Avalon the following night. I thanked him and then headed back to the dancefloor to get closer to the stage. At exactly 1:01 am. The spotlight came on and shown across the DJ booth and was quickly brought down to shine on the stage and the crowd started to make some noise. Into the midst of all of the already turbulent pandemonium here steps Madonna in her flowing purple dress, just made to dance in, and asked the crowd how they were doing. Of course the place erupted in some high level noise. She then proceeded to thank everyone for coming out and was totally looking forward to hanging out and dancing to her new songs with everyone. So then that is exactly what she did. For the next 30 minutes she danced on stage with all of her friends that had come out with her to 3-4 different songs from her album. Towards the end she pulled a few people onto the stage from the audience and they danced on stage with her and waved around their hands like they were holding up candles or just trying to wave to long lost friends. I tried to take some pictures but the hands and the lighting conspired to make picture-taking too difficult, so in the end I just held up the camera and recorded the whole event. The end result was a little shaky but definitely captures my experience of pushing and being pushed for space in the crowd with barely enough room to wave a finger as the crowd crushed forwards to be as close to the stage as possible. Finally the 4th song played she waved goodnight and the spotlight turned out. We had silence for the next 5 minutes as the crowd filed out of the place (most payed $25 dollars and if you did not have a card you payed $40) and the place got back to some semblance of normal and all of the people who were there to just stand around moved onto other venues and scenes. The music came back on shortly and Peter continued to take the crowd on further into the night. I stopped a few times to talk to friends, and offer the usual outgoing advice but mainly tried to stay focused, alert and in tune with the party. I remembered after one of my final appearances on the speaker (I was able to dance on just 2 of them on this overly crowded night) to give a gift CD to Joseph (Groove Summ More) before heading back to the front, apprising Russ of my status and then heading over to coat check (first time this season) and picking up my wrap before we called it an evening. The crowd had been nice but it was definitely time to turn in (5am). We said goodnight to our friends close by and then headed out to the ave to pick up a a taxi. Russ flagged one down and we piled in and headed back to BK. The driver got us there with no stress and we were able to get back to Park slope without any issues. The night drew to a close and so did my eye lids. So nice to finally have that rest.

Sunday morning I awoke and thankfully no sign of the hated drilling. I watched some television and fixed a few things up around the house before Russ decided we need to get out for something to eat. Since the time when this occurred was around 2:30pm we headed out to the car and drove over to the Fulton Street area in Brooklyn to park outside of Wendy's to pick up a nice lunch. Little did we know that the particular hour of travel we choose was dedicated to all of those church going folk who only drive on Sunday were leaving their services and clogging the nearby streets with all those people who had no where else pressing to be so they just took their time getting anywhere. We finally got past the snarl of cars and parked on Willoughby street outside of Wendys so I could head inside and pick up the food. Inside I saw someone who was the poster boy for people who need side-burns. I had never seen a hairstyle before that started at the front of the scalp even on the sides and went all the way back behind the ear with no hair thought of to make a semblance of shape of a sideburn. It was disturbing to look at and made someone who would normally have looked ok dressed up in dress pants and man tailor shirt look like a trailer park refugee that showed up in the heart of Brooklyn. After I got that image out my eyes I hurried back out to the car with the food fixings and we headed back home. Of course the two sodas rubbing against each other in my lap caused the pop top on one to come loose and proceed to soak me thoroughly on the seat. I made do with the napkins and kept the two troublemaking cups apart the rest of the trip and once back upstairs in the house I made short work of the lunch and my drink. The rest of the night was devoted to just more football and the World Series but in the end I decided that I could not take the DJ up on his offer and I just stayed in for Sunday night. It was a nice thought but I have so much else to be thinking of right now.

So many people getting laid off from work and not enough time in the day to even finish reading all I want to read and writing what I want to write and playing (music and video wise) what I want to play. But there will always be another weekend and their will always be friends to hang out with. Until next weekend (Halloween, Yay) I will catch up with the crowd then. Fond wishes of more of the Good Life to everyone...

Oct 14-16 - Out into the Dry and Getting Hot at Night

Friday evening. The week of the rains. I made my way home from work with the air cooler but no longer with the pouring rain that had depressed the start of the week. I got home and fixed myself a shake and busied myself looking over the music selection on iTunes and then cut the hair, cleaned up and picked out the outfit. I wanted to get into the city a little earlier so I called for a car service pick up just after 11pm and was headed into the city shortly afterwards. The driver took the route over the Bklyn Bridge and up Hudson Street (after my suggestion) and we were up to 8th Ave and 18th street in very good time. I made my way over to the bar, bid good eve to the doorman and then I was inside of Gym. Barman Brett was holding court at the front of the bar and I stopped next to crowd made up mostly of softball players (The Rage) and bar friends I had seen in the space before. David was there with a few friends and I said plenty of hellos all around as I also talked to Ty, whom I passed on my way inside. We chatted a bit before he said good night and headed outside into the city. I made my way to the back and talked about music and such with DJ Smoky for a while and watched the crowd in the place as they played pool, watched the games on TV (another win by White Sox) and generally just enjoyed a nice and dry evening. Some random reveler wandered in wearing a sportcoat and unbuttoned dress shirt and requested that the DJ play Madonna's newest single (Hung Up). DJ Smoky only had the song on vinyl and only has a CD rig at Gym so the song was not available. After gushing some more about how he loved that song the lost soul wandered blearily back into the night to search for other bars to make song demands in. I hung out for a bit more before heading back up to the front and bidding goodnight to the remaining softball players and then saying goodnight myself as I headed out to the street and then over 2 blocks to 6th ave to pick up my bottle of water. Slightly more hydrated after those two healthy drinks I had enjoyed back at Gym (A Stoli Orange and Rockstar as well as a Surfer on Acid) and I was ready to bypass the crowded door and head on into Splash. The new security guy at the door said I had to stand in line like everyone else who was handstamped so I acquiesced and then got IDd when I did get to the front of the line but of course I am legal to drink so I was then stamped and inside to enjoy the party. The DJ for the night was Eliot DeHoyos and after I had my first drink in hand I headed up to the DJ booth and said hello to light mistress Liz and showed her my new camera and even took some shots from the DJ Booth before being joined by Jen and hanging out some more in the booth and talking about the shorted out light board and the energy of the night. She gave me a drink ticket as well as asked me to pick up a drink for herself just before Jen returned to the booth and we said hello again. After we talked some more about the crowd I bid the girls adieu and headed back down into the crowd and danced a bit to the beats and even rehydrated one more time outside before heading back in and dancing some more. At around 2:50 am I had finally worked myself up to take to the stage and dance above the floor for a bit as earlier I had stayed to the dancefloor and watching from the stage. I then headed out to the street, waited a few moments for a taxi out front to make its way over from Fifth Avenue before climbing in and heading back to BK. I woke up twice on the way home and then made my way upstairs for a well deserved rest.

I awoke the next day and had some delivery breakfast before Russ and I headed over to the gym on 9th Street. The day was sunny and we were totally happy that the rains had ended. The NYSC was pretty full for so early an hour on the weekend but I was able to get through the workout after waiting for just the chest press and the assisted chin-up machine. After we were both through with the abbreviated workout we headed back up the street and chilled out at home. I was still lining up songs on the computer, Watching Kathy Griffin on DVD "Allegedly" and playing some video games to pass the time before we were invited out to dinner at around 7pm by Phil and Lydia. We headed out and up 5th Avenue to Old Homestead and arrived first but we were able to get a table after a short consultation with the hostess and a little bit of a wait. After the others arrived we all sat down at a table in the back and ordered up. The two appetizers of oysters and escargot were not in my taste but I did try the escargot to keep Lydia happy. It was kinda garlicky but not too bad. Our entrees finally arrived and I enjoyed my fried chicken while Phil and Lydia shared multiple orders of the ribs appetizer and Pais dug into the surf and turf. The food was good and we were all happy with the repast and headed out of the place after 9:30 and headed back down the street to other other end of Park Slope. We parked the car and watched some HD programming before Lydia enjoyed the UFC championships more than we did so we took a break and showed them the view from the roof before hanging out some more before the two of them told us goodnight and headed out. Pais rested for a bit while I watched some DVR programming before we were finally ready to pick out our wardrobe and get ready to head out. I called for the car service and they arrived pretty quickly and we were downstairs piled into the minivan and headed for the city.

The driver was one I had ridden into the city with before so I passed the time with a few conversations about current sports (who is going to go all the way in the World Series, how is the traffic moving compare to most nights and the like). We got dropped off at 18th on the right side which was convenient for getting out of the minivan side door and made our way down the block to the rather long but fast moving line. We were inside fairly quickly and after arrival at 12:30 the place was a little more busy around the bar than usual. The problem may have been the music which kept up a good beat but kept pulling back from anything recognizable. I even had the random guy wander up and ask me (me?) what was the DJ waiting for. I didn't know but I did see the place slowly filling up more and more and by 1am when the place was downright packed we finally heard some music we wanted to hear. We also saw Phil who told us the rest of the crew was at the back bar. After I picked up another drink myself from Barman Barker at the front bar I headed back and caught up with Russ and the rest where I had just missed Phil and Kevin on their way to the dancefloor because a classic hit by Kim English came on. I still said hello to Joseph and Duane and some more of our friends before we headed back to front. The Roxy was nicely packed even before our friends Ernesto and Mike from Boston showed up (he's moving to NYC) and they even brought their own entourages. We discussed old friends and hanging out and future good times. Reggie had called me on Friday night on my taxi ride in to see if I was hanging out on Saturday but I did not see him at the party. By the time Amanda Lapore took to the stage and they threw out passes to John Barton gym the place was definitely on a high note and everyone was having a downright great time. I had taken some great pics with my new dig camera including all the boys and Angelique Ali who was nice enough when I recognized her at the back bar and saw her again at the front bar (had picture taken the second time). She told me that she was supposed to perform but due to scheduling and timiing mixup they had only stopped for the one performance by Quentin Elias (I have heard that "So What" song far too much, like 3 times since the beginning of the year and twice at the Roxy). I missed going to see her on Monday because I was at work too long but I def look forward to the next time and hope I can show up with some friends so they know what I am all excited about. The DJ Manny Lehman made sure we stayed dancing to mixes by Paulo, Peter, and more until we were finally ready to clear out around 5am. We picked up a few flyers and headed over to 9th Ave headed downtown and Russ flagged down a taxi pretty easily. The ride home was nice and quick and we didn't leave behind any electronics or currency in the back seat.

The next day I awoke around 1pm and after some football we walked down the street and picked up some bagels at the bagel place. The cinnamon raisin bagel with butter was pretty good and I continued the rest of the afternoon just chillin and relaxing after all the energy expended earlier in the weekend. Finally around 5pm we headed out and picked up some KFC to have something to munch on while we finished watching some of the games. We verified the movie times then headed out to see "Domino" at the theater in downtown Manhattan. We found parking pretty easily (after cutting off a truck and pulling across two lanes) and made it over to the theater with time to find a good seat in the mostly empty theater and pick up some popcorn and soda ($10.50 for one med soda and med popcorn, wow.) And settled in to watch a movie that was surprisingly more about the story rather than the action. The movie reminded us of the backwards story telling of "Pulp Fiction" but without the complex verbal interchanges. The movie did have its moments and we did enjoy it but it ended very suddenly and we wished it had contained just a little more substance to the 2 hr length. Was definitely something to think on the way back to BK. It was only much later in the evening that I realized I had neglected to tape my Saturday Night cartoon programming and so had missed a whole bunch of shows so now I have missed a few key episodes of several shows I have been watching but I guess I will just have to catch them on da replay.

I have been getting better at time management and have some nice plans for the upcoming weeks. We shall see if I can really knuckle down and follow through with all the of the big things coming down the pipe. We shall see. Until the next appearance of the party monster. See it then.

Oct 07 - Oct 10 - Cloudy and cool, but still Fun and Friendly

The house was quiet and I dug into my pick up dinner of a fried half-chicken over fried rice. The meal was good since I had not had the same in a long while. I watched some TV and DVRd the 20/20 episode about house buying so Russ could see it on another day and I set about with the regular Friday ritual of cleaning up and making sure the hair was done before showering and dressing up to step out into the night. Because of the rain I decided that Car Service would be the easiest way to get into the city. I walked down the street despite the light rain and made my way into Castle Car service. There was a driver right outside and I was able to state my destination and head across the city and up Hudson Street to arrive on 8th Avenue without too much stress. The driver listened to my suggestions and did not cross all the way to the West side just to come back over to 8th Ave. I got out of the Taxi and walked over to
Gym, showed my ID to the doorman and headed in. I didn't see anyone that I knew, kind of strange for a long weekend but I picked up my drink (A Rockstar and Stoli Orange) and headed to the back to see DJ Smoky play the tunes. The pool game was funny to watch, the low-talent vs. the inebriated but everyone was definitely having fun and the crowd was enjoying the 80's crossed with today, with Level 42 "Something About You" as well as remixes of Madonna and I hung out for a bit, having another Rockstar over ice before heading out and making my way over to 6th Avenue and then on to Splash. The DJ for the eve was Max Rodriguez and the place seemed busy with plenty of people in town for the holiday weekend. A lot of people visiting (doing the tourist thing) and the music kept the crowd in the mood with classics from a few years ago to present day hits such as Mariah Carey, Missy Elliott and the Pussycat Dolls. I danced on the stage some and even lit my hands and danced on the box in front of the stage but I did not have the energy to stay with it for too long as the music wasn't moving me as much as I would have liked. I had fun but not as much as I wanted so I left around 3am and caught myself a taxi outside and headed back home. I still had plenty of weekend to go and figured the sooner I went to bed the sooner I would get on with the rest of the nights.

Saturday I awoke and watched some Billy and Mandy on Cartoon Network before heading out and up the street, umbrella overhead, to get to the gym. The workout was good, I picked a good time of day and I have devised a workout for the gym in BK that gets me in and out nice and easy. It all seemed to work out and it had even stopped raining mostly by the time I was finished and I was back in the house and eating Lasagna for lunch (homemade of course, leftovers are so gooood). I watched some DVR programming, caught up on a short nap and made sure the rest of my DVR shows were set to record. I also actually broke out the Rowenta iron and made sure my shirts were ready for primetime with the addition of some spray sizing that made the wrinkles just fall out. I had more lasagna for dinner (it was that good) and passed the last few hours getting ready for the evening by playing video games before it was finally late enough to prepare seriously to head out by showering, scenting, and dressing. I tried to determine the best time to head out and finally called for a car around 11:20.

The car took 10 minutes to arrive and then once the driver did come he decided that if he could not go through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel he was too much of a B*tch to take me where I had called the car service to go. He cited some desperate housewife crap about traffic and that it would take him like 2 hours travel time and I was not in the mood to argue with his older, obese, mustachioed self and decided that he could let me off. He took me to a competing car service that seemed packed with all of the neighborhood old people going on their various midnight errands. I walked the 3 blocks back to Castle Car service and told the dispatcher about the b*tch driver that refused to drive me into the city. I stepped outside of the place and flagged down another driver for me who had no problem with following my direction and heading into the city as if it were any other night. In fact there was NO ONE on the BQE and NO ONE on the Brooklyn Bridge and even the lone car sitting mid-span did not slow down the traffic too much (even though they were forcing all the cars into one lane at one point) and I was still into the city and up the west side with no stress. My New driver (not really new as he had driving me into the city before and even picked us up from the airport before but he was new tonight) was surprised with the low amount of traffic and we felt that maybe the first driver was just unfamiliar with Manhattan and was scared about stories about the backups on the Bklyn Bridge. I suggested he head back home over the Manhattan bridge and I made the rest of the trip without any further delay. I was dropped off at 18th street at just after midnight and at exactly 12:05 I received the call from Candi that she had just come out of the Holland Tunnel and was on her way up. I told her to just take the West Side Highway and she would be here in like 10 minutes. I then proceeded to wait outside for 20 minutes before calling her back and finding out that she had made a wrong turn and had actually headed downtown and crosstown heading for the Brooklyn Bridge before realizing she was going the wrong way and had turned around. I waited outside for another 25 minutes before the called to say they were around the corner and a minute later they were turning the corner and heading into the lot and parking. They left the car and turned around to see me waiting at the lot entrance to take them into the club. We waited on the line for a brief instant before saying hi to Doorman Derek and heading inside. We were stamped, wristbanded and past the cashiers without any trouble and then it was on and into the party at Roxy. I brought the girls over to my barman Barker and we said hello and picked up our first drinks, my Stoli Orange and Red Bull, A Cosmo, and Sex on the Beach. After a quick tour of the Crystal Lounge and the back bar it was onto to the dancefloor and of course I had my second drink before we headed over and I introduced the girls to Michelé and Dave before we stepped down onto the dancefloor and truly began our evening. We had a great time dancing in three different spots on the dancefloor, hung out in the lounge at the back of the dancfloor and the seating area in the asian section and said hi to Russ and the Jimmy when they arrived later on in the evening as well as Dwayne and the regular cast of friends when I hang out on a Saturday night who were all so friendly and nice. The evening progressed with the hot tunes thrown out by DJ Tony Moran and I even commented to Candi that she might enjoy some of the tunes even more than I did with so much of the dance tracks with spanish lyrics. We continued dancing into late in the evening before the girls called it a night at 5am and I gave them both a gift CD to take away before saying g'nite. I went back inside and hung out with Russ for another half hour of dancing before I threw in the towel myself and we made our way outside to pick up the flyers, magazines and a taxi at 5:30am.

Sunday was a much slower day with the slight cold I had picked up from my extended stay outdoors the night before but with a few strategic applications of Zicam that was pretty much cleared up by Tuesday Morning but in the meantime I stayed in, watched football, enjoyed delivery breakfast and spent the afternoon just chilling as Russ slept off his whirlwind weekend, (trip to Baltimore on Friday, Trip back from Baltimore Saturday, Hanging with the boys and girls on Saturday Night into Sunday). Unfortunately our weekend of of fun was put on pause as I looked for the camera that we had only owned for all of 3 days. Of course everyone at work loved my new Samsung (exact model hidden for my own selfish reasons) camera but that was not enough to save its small size from becoming lost between Manhattan and Bklyn, probably in the taxi ride so now I guess I will have to take all of those pictures all over again. I consoled myself by shopping for and re-buying my camera at a lower price and awaiting its arrival all over again. I was starving after all of that hard work on line shopping so it was then time to go and pick up a nice Sunday dinner at Mickey D's (Number 1 please and a diet coke with no ice). We listened to more of the Lil Kim CD going to and fro and upon return to the domicile I chowed down on the burger while watching DVR programming of SNL from the night before. I decided with my still slight cold that I needed rest rather than raucousness to heal myself so I stayed in for my holiday Sunday night and just watched DVR cartoons and played video games. I ended up going to bed around 2:30am and called my Sunday successful just because it was still plenty of fun and no one lost an eye.

Monday I awoke in the afternoon for some reason and was very happy I had the day off as I appeared to have saved all of my fatigue for the one night of sleep. I spent the rest of the day looking up news and watching TV before Russ convinced me to take advantage of the conveniently located White Castle down on 4th Avenue. We headed over and I got myself 2 cheeseburgers, 2 bacon cheeseburgers, and a chicken with honey sauce (why? i dunno, it looked good in the picture). The chicken sandwich was kind of hard, as the bun could not be steamed like a regular white castle and the chicken was kind of heavy on the stomach compared to the light and airy white castles. Thank goodness I only inflicted myself with just the one. The rest of the burgers went down nice and easy and I was happy for a little while just relaxing and waiting for the rest of the eve to pass. Russ decided later in the eve around 9pm that it was time for dinner but I decided that while I had just eaten a few hours before I could probably dive into to the din after 10pm. The delivery arrived but I let it cool while I played some more Phantasy Star Online on the Gamecube and I took only a short break around 11pm to re-heat and eat. That wax paper sure comes in handy doing the microwave thing and so the dinner was excellent before returning and using all of my new weapons in game and having a grand old time before calling it a night.

A short week ahead and then another weekend. My next big party will probably be Halloween weekend but until then bring on the parties and all of the random acts of fun and kindness. I'm sure we will find something entertaining to do.

9/31-10/2 - All That and Then Some, Ready for my new ones

Friday
First Day of Russ B'Day Weekend. I arrived at home, fixed the sound on the telly and ate my dinner of steak and greens. Ernesto had arrived to hang so we chatted some and I looked at peeps that he pulled up on the net before moving on to the bathroom and cutting my hair and then crossing to the other side of the house and doing the shower and wardrobe change. The Jimmy and Stephen arrived and we all hung out a bit while fielding phone calls from Kevin before heading across BK to drive to the aforementioned and wave him over to the Land Rover. There were four of us across the backseat, sitting like bad school kids but we arrived in the isle of Manhat alive and even drove the two boys up to midtown and dropped them off on the west side and 34th street. After that we headed back downtown and looked for parking. We passed all of the one way streets and ended up parking on 17th street in a nice space that had a knocked down sign in the space. After I got out and moved the metal signpost with sign attached, Stephen finished parking the Land Rover and everyone disembarked. After some heady decision I decided to stay on 17th street while the other guys headed up to Krash (Club Deep). I was intrigued but eventually decided to stay with the guarantee of some level of enjoyment at Splash. I walked in, headed downstairs and after not recognizing any bartenders I headed back upstairs and found my bartender of the past 2 weeks upstairs at the back bar. I started off with a Mandarin and cranberry and watched the crowd for a bit. The place wasn't fully packed yet but still plenty of people packing the floor and even dancing on stage. I finished the first drink and headed downstairs for a helping of Smirnoff Ice over ice with a splash of Grenadine. Back upstairs I said hello to Robbie manning his box in front of the stage and danced next to a skinny girl and her out of shape and clingy so-called "agent". Robbie of course wanted me to introduce but after a brief chat and changing sides of the stage I decided it was too much trouble and he could do his own matchmaking. After hearing the Chus and Ceballos mix of "Dirtyfilthy" I headed outside to pick up a bottle of water and was intrigued by the flyer guy handing out business cards touting the after-hours but dressed as if it was the middle of December (hoodie pulled up and a coat over that). All he was missing was the gloves and earmuffs. Anyway after crossing and recrossing the street with my water and heading back inside I hung out with the crowd some more before heading downstairs and taking a trip to the mens room. on my way out I decided to walk out of the opposite side of the space than I came in and ran into J and his main man. We chatted briefly before we parted ways and they headed back upstairs to the dancefloor while I stayed downstairs to get another drink. I walked back up the front stairs and on my way to the dancefloor I looked over the guys once again and noticed all of the interesting touristy types populating the different areas but none holding my attention too long before I was back up on the stage and dancing to Mariah Carey "We belong Together". It was strange how DJ Alex kept segueing back and forth between out-there new music and what was definitely familiar and still all danceable. I enjoyed myself of course but reached my true epiphany as I took to the speaker around 3am myself and danced on the box in front of the stage. I danced to some song with a pretty good beat and contemplated getting down but then I heard the DJ throw on one of my favorite club tunes and re-furled the lights and danced with my hands still aglow to "Solid Textures". That song is so minty fresh each and every time I hear it in the club. I stopped myself from overindulging in the drinks and proceeded to just dance for the last hour and 15 min but finally was over it all and headed outside at 4:15. Lacking in some sort of telephonic contact with the rest of my crew I wandered in the street for a bit ostensibly to go to the store before finally receiving a call from Pais and meeting him on a convenient street corner as he drove up in his taxi and we headed back to BK. I was pretty well recovered from my earlier bingeing and headed home with a well danced out self and was happy to fall into my bed for a well worked for rest.

Saturday
I woke up around noon, showered and dressed and prepared myself to head out to the gym. While still messing around in the house the tone rang from the lobby and i ran downstairs (buzzer broken) to get whoever it was and see them downstairs. Ernesto had arrived to pick up his vehicle and had to use the facilities before his long trip back to LI. He had hung out at Roxy and skated for a bit with Kevin before heading over to Krash and the boys and dancing for a bit but was not able to muster up as much fun at his second venue as I had enjoyed at my first (and only). We wished each other a good day and he headed back out on his way back to LI and I greeted the newly awakened Russ as he started watching baseball on the HD. After seeing the Yankees take an early lead I was ready to head out and make my way to the gym. I let the breakfast delivery guy and a couple of building denizens into the building on my way out and headed out into the 70 degree day. For some reason I misplaced my ipod shuffle and so I was forced to listen to the full size ipod while at the gym. It still worked out OK as my ipod has its own level of intelligence and played the appropriate songs while I went through my Saturday workout. Unfortunately I headed back home without eating any lunch as I usually would and arrived back home to no food and sustained myself on an orange before we finally received delivery dinner and I had a meal of chicken caesar salad. I cleaned up the place a bit, vacuumed under the bed and over the lampshades next to the bed before vacuuming the living room as we prepared for the rest of the evening watching DVR programming and Fox block of Cops. After showering and cleaning up a bit I watched a bit of Surface on NBC since I had def not watched any episodes in its regular time slot. The show showed some promise but the end of the episode floored me with the giant sea monster eating first half of a shark that was being fished out of the ocean and then coming up from underneath the boat and eating the whole boat. The shot was filmed most scarily and I scared Russ from the other room as my incredulity was loudly broadcast throughout the demesne. Shortly afterwards our first set of evening visitors arrived with Bruce and Phil coming over bearing freshly picked orchard apples and we watched college football and other various programming on the HD. The Jimmy arrived shortly after and after consuming a few drinks and preparing ourselves as much as we could we headed out into the night.

We said good eve to Phil and Bruce at the cars and the rest of us piled into the Explorer and headed downhill to the highway. We got onto the BQE and merged into traffic and finally convinced the Jimmy to take the Manhattan Bridge rather than the Bklyn Bridge because of the level of congestion and he actually listened and was pleasantly surprised. The trip across town on Canal street was uneventful and we headed up the West side in a nice flow of traffic and found nice parking on 19th street when some outgoing hockey players loaded up and left two spots empty for us. We parked the car and then headed down street to the club, pausing briefly to admire a makeshift sculpture inside of a fire-station callbox on the corner of 10th and 18th. Cute. The line was moving in front of the club and the cool night air was a nice change from the heat we had enjoyed over the summer. Not cold enough for a jacket yet but that appeared to be coming up soon. We got inside, debated on asking the computer list guy on whether Russ should speak of his lost JB card but decided to save it for another week. The Jimmy had a long conversation with his cashier holding up that particular line for a bit (the lines were a little longer than usual) before we all headed inside and I walked up to barmistress Cathy to inquire on something missing but she anticipated my question and told me the two bad boys were sent to the back bar for the evening. Barman Barker and Matt were holding court in the rear of the building this eve but the change of venue was OK for me as I was able to look over the place without all the hustle and bustle of the front bar, plus it was much easier to get my barman's attention. Our Roxy night was truly started off with a round of drinks for us plus one and I pondered over the new sounding DJ Hex Hector for the eve. The music was good but lacked a certain cohesion as he appeared to be trying for a different sound than his previous club appearances. I had missed the two readily accessible Madonna mixes upon my arrival and was listening to the rest of the music for a while before the floor slowly filled and I said hi to Dave before heading onto the dancefloor myself and dancing in the still empty space near the front with drink in hand. I finished the drink off, danced some more and then headed back to the back bar to see where the boys had gotten off to. We chatted some and then I felt the need to wake myself up with a little dancing and made an appearance on the speaker in the asian section. While dancing I picked up a few new fans (of course) and met some new peoples (a girl named Stone, like Angie) and was nice and heated up before heading back to the back bar and talking some more with the boys before proceeding with the rest of the night. I will say the DJ went out of his way to keep the boys anticipating what he would do next but I was not particularly impressed and was kind of happy that my friend from work had begged off and made a rain date for two weeks away (for DJ Manny Lehman) I was still very much looking forward to my two weeks in a row of entertaining friends from work and was hoping for good music nights from both. Despite the seeming slow start the beats throughout the night progressed nicely and we stayed in the place until around 4:30am. Russ flagged down a taxi outside and we were back in Bklyn and the welcome rest I deserved without too much drama. Another night of dancing complete.

Sunday I awoke in the afternoon and enjoyed a delivery breakfast. Despite my hard partying efforts from the night before I was well recovered and after sufficient recording at the laptop I was ready to head out and go shopping; for food and other things. We stopped first at the ghetto mall on Fulton Street in downtown BK but I just could not find a priceworthy copy of Lil Kim's new album "The Naked Truth" with some out of control spots charging 15.99 for a CD (in its first week that is just plain stab and robbery). I eventually gave up on the no name stores after the last store offered the CD for 11.99 with a $40 purchase, as if I could actually find $40 worth of stuff to buy at some hole like Record Express or whatever the hell hole it was. Since I was in the neighborhood we did Wendy's for lunch, a nice Big Bacon Classic and was so happy once again. Russ and I left the downtown and headed through the traffic (street fair that day) to park next to the Baskin Robbins while I headed into the PC Richard (no longer sells CDs) and into Target (Sold out) and decided I had to pick it up at the mall in NJ the next day (Thanks FYE at $13.99 - f/ that $2 rebate). I settled on not wasting the trip and picked up a few things at the Vitamin Shoppe. After that we headed back down the street and turned over to Pathmark and picked up the necessities such as milk, juice and soda. We had decided on a dinner of Lasagna and I made sure to have all of the fixings for that (still have to remember Olive Oil for the next time tho) but after returning home and bringing the bags home in the borrowed shopping cart (from the Lobby) it was all domestic stuff from there. I cooked the dinner and watched football and other television. As most of Fox Block was repeats we ended up watching DVR programming and then Curb at 10 followed by Extras which stopped DVR recording just when it was getting good at the end. Anyway the rest of the night was just more DVR programming (Inuyasha and the like) and we wound down sufficiently so we could start the new week and prepare for the next.

Until then, I will do better and better until I am the only one, The Best.